I See You (20 page)

I
’M HUMMING. ME! AND NOT
just the sound either. My whole body feels light, featherweight, and I’m lifting from the ground and floating on cloud nine. The guys have noticed my chipper mood and quiz me, but I give nothing away. I’m keeping hold of the emotions I’m feeling. I’m keeping Devon in a box only for my knowledge. Tricia has been questioning me about him non-stop in our nightly calls but I play it off. I don’t want her throwing smut on what’s happening between us. I love that girl but she thinks with her lady dick. My thoughts cause a chuckle to bubble out of me and Gerry quirks a brow; I interrupted him eating a pink frosted doughnut. Mmm, that looks good, actually.

I check the time and excitement races through my veins. Only thirty minutes left and Devon will be taking me to dinner . . .
out in public
. I push down my reservations and agree with myself that I’m going to go with the moment instead of living in fear of what could happen.

“No, Mrs. Perry, it’s not a crime if you allowed him to have a key.” I try and reason with the old lady who makes my day exhausting at least twice a week.

“He won’t give it back.”

“Okay, Ma’am, this is what I’m going to do. I’m going to call for someone to come and change the locks, and this time don’t give your son a key.”

“Oh, that would be perfect, Tina, because . . .” It annoys me when she purposely gets my name wrong out of spite, and no doubt she will give that boy a key and ring me to whine about it.

“I have another call, Mrs. Perry. Have a good evening.” I end the call to the sound of Gerry’s chuckle. I grab a doughnut and launch it at him, which he catches in mock horror.

“Never risk a doughnut dropping on the floor, Nina,” he scolds, seriously.

“You’re such a cop.” I laugh, shaking my head at his red face.

Luke’s heavy boots clunk across the old wooden floors as he enters with a prisoner in tow, the first one I’ve ever seen arrested. “Gerry, book Mr. Gates in for the night.”

“I wwanna goo hoeeem,” the drunk man slurs, stumbling forward and crashing his fists down on the desk.

“Where’d you find him this time?” Gerry asks.

“In the Miller’s stables, trying to molest their prize horse.”

Gerry and I both groan out a, “What the hell?”

The scent trail left from the animal perv makes my nose twitch. Luke leans over my desk, tapping his finger against the clock. He smells of leather and man sweat. It’s not pungent, but gentle and unique to him. I sigh at the time. Thirty minutes late. I debate waiting but decide against it. I don’t want to have to walk home in the dark if he doesn’t show.

“I’m leaving now,” I tell him.

He grabs my purse and sweater from the hook on the wall behind me. “I’ll take you home. I wanted to speak to you anyway.” I’m relieved to have a ride and offer him a small smile in thanks.

The seats are hot from the sun. It’s uncomfortable and I feel a little guilty having him drive me home. He works way too many hours.

“What is it you want to ask me?” I ask, trying to get him to stop looking at me with worry. I’m grateful he’s compassionate towards me for what happened but he has enough people to worry about. Adding my load to his list isn’t fair.

“I’m taking tomorrow off.”

“Oh?”

“I’m going to your old address.”

My body stiffens. “What? Why?”

“I want to take a look around Mr. Ilavich’s house. I can’t find it listed anywhere for sale, only the handmade sign out front.” My head buzzes as I try to focus on him. “Nina, in your file it says you checked out of the hospital the next day. Did you go home? Was he still living there?”

I shake my head, my mouth going dry. “I didn’t check out. My injuries were too severe, but the police told the hospital to have me down as discharged if anyone called or came in. They staked out my house for two weeks, hoping he’d return there.”

“So when did you go back?”

“I didn’t. I had Tricia pack up the house when the police gave up and I moved here straight from hospital.”

“So you never saw him again?”

I shake my head and squeeze my hands together in my lap until my knuckles turn white. His warm hand covers them. “I’m sorry if I’m bringing up old scars, Nina. I’m the sheriff, and sometimes it’s hard to switch that off.”

The car barely stops and I jump out, shouting, “It’s fine, Luke. Thanks for the ride home,” as I shut the door behind me.

Luke pulls away and I wait for his headlights to fade out of sight before taking a few deep breaths to give myself courage to go over to Devon’s and ask why he didn’t come for me. My feet stomp up his front steps, my small fist balling and banging against the wood of the door, but I get no answer.

I stomp back the way I came, and before I make it to my side entrance, a flash in my peripheral view has me turning to Devon’s backyard. I open the gate and halt at the scene in front of me. Devon is shirtless, and covered in mud. Sweat glistens all over him and he looks kind of manic, patting down soil where once his pansies were.

“Devon?” I call, but it’s like he’s deaf. His head eventually tilts up but it’s like he sees straight through me. I step back and call his name again.

I
T’S LIKE LOOKING THROUGH GLAZED
glass. My vision is blurry and the sound penetrating my ears is distorted and sounds far away. I managed to collect Steve up in the duvet and sheet but I’ll need a new mattress. I ripped the flower bed up under the window where Noah had trodden down the flowers.

“Devon?”

Nina. Shit, Nina!

Dropping the shovel, I brush the dirt from my chest. “Oh my God, Nina?”

“Devon, are you okay? You look a little out of it?”

I’m sad and annoyed and . . .
What the hell? I’m hallucinating
.

“Hey there, big guy. Are you hungry?”

It’s Steve. She picks him up. I look down at the flower bed and back to her arms.

“Devon? Are you okay? You didn’t pick me up.”

I shake my head and walk over to her and Steve, rubbing my palm down his fur, and I’m rewarded with a loud purr. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize the time.”

“You have blood on your jeans.”

I look down to the patch of blood, and back up into her worried eyes. “I reopened my cut with a pair of scissors as I opened the compost bag.” I reassure her. “Let me take a quick shower and I’ll take you for some dinner.” I smile and lean in to drop a kiss against her lips. Her breathy sigh ignites the fire in me.

“Just shower and then come over. I’ve had a busy day. What do you say to me cooking my famous omelet?” She grins and everything feels right again.

“I’d say that sounds perfect.”

She returns my smile and I jolt when her thumb swipes across my top lip. She chuckles, wiping the piece of dirt she collected between her thumb and finger and then turns away, Steve plodding happily behind her. I can’t help but blow out a relieved breath at the sight of him.

“Scruff,” she shouts to me. “Hurry up. The eggs are only good until the end of next week!”

Holding my hands up when she winks over her shoulder at me, I blow her a kiss and turn back to my house. “I’m going, I’m going!”

She gives me a mile wide smile when I compliment her omelet. “My God, you weren’t joking. Woman, this is seriously good.”

“Of course it is. I made it!” She winks and places her cutlery to one side, the half of her leftover omelet taunting me. Catching my gaze she tuts and lifts her plate, sliding her food onto mine.

“So, what have you been up to today?” she asks as she places her plate into the basin and turns the faucet on full blast. She squeals and jumps back when the jet of water hits her fork and sprays across the kitchen and down the front of her.

She gawps, the water continuing to gush out and pour onto the floor. I can’t help but laugh at her shock as I reach over her and shut off the faucet. She blinks up at me, her long eyelashes dripping, and her red cheeks wet and flushed. “Are you always this . . . ?”

She narrows her eyes on me but I can see the amusement glistening back at me. “Don’t you dare say it!” she warns, trying to keep her soft lips straight and her face stern.

“ . . . Graceful?” I laugh.

Her mouth falls open in shock but for the longest moment I can’t seem to breathe. Her white dress is wet and clings to her stunning body. Her dark nipples poke through, teasing my cock so much that my pants don’t seem to be able to confine its sudden swell. My chest begins to ache with longing, and automatically, my tongue teases my bottom lip.

Dropping her face to see what has caught my attention, Nina slowly looks back up at me. Something in her eyes makes me step forwards. Her breathing is erratic and heavy, her chest heaving with every deep pull.

“I better go,” I whisper, my voice coming out quiet and restrained against the constriction of lust in my throat. But when I turn to leave, her hand whips out and her fingers curl around my wrist. The air between us is stifling, the lack of oxygen making it difficult to breathe.

“I don’t want you to go,” she whispers.

My skin prickles with goose bumps, however I manage to reach out and softly hold the side of her face. “Nina, I’m perfectly fine to wait. For however long you need it to be.”

“I know,” she says quietly. “But I don’t think I am. I want to feel again, Devon. I want to feel good again.”

Her words don’t register at first but when they do I blink at her. “Are you saying you want to . . . ?”

“I want you to make love to me,” she finishes for me. She smiles and nods, “I’m ready. And I want to feel you.”

If it wasn’t for the honesty in her eyes I would pull back, but her gaze is soft and her smile is relaxed. My heart pounds frantically in my chest, excitement pouring through me as I lean down and kiss her. Her hands immediately come around me, her fingers digging into the muscles on my back as she holds onto me like her life depends on it.

The way she kisses me back tells me everything. I can feel her conviction, her need, as potently as if it’s my own. Her fingers are wrestling with my shirt buttons as she deepens our kiss, her tongue teasing my own as her arousal grows fiercer. “Please,” she whispers when she slides the material off my shoulders and her fingers softly roam down the front of my bare chest. “Please, Devon.”